The Manitoba First Nations Firefighters Competition will be held in Thompson for the third time ever July 20, hosted by Keewatin Tribal Council (KTC).
It is also the third time it has been here in the past five years, starting with the first time Thompson hosted the competition back in 2015. The event returned two years later.
Nine teams competed in the event in 2015 and eight teams in 2017, including women’s teams from Garden Hill and St. Theresa Point. Last year the competition was hosted by the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council in Manitoba’s southwest and had 12 First Nations represented.
“We were pretty adamant in our proposal that we needed this prestigious competition in the north and from what I know this competition has been around for 26 years and with our successful bid this will mark the third time this competition will be held in Northern Manitoba,” said competition co-ordinator Ivan Hart of KTC in a press release.
Competing teams must all be from a First Nation fire department and must have six crew members. Smaller fire departments with fewer than six participants can combine with other fire departments to compete but teams need to submit notices of interest by calling Hart at 1-204-307-5752 or Kayla Bee at 1-204-970-0158 as soon as possible.
The competition includes hose rolling, high-flow knockdown, endurance relay and self-contained breathing apparatus relay (SCBA) events and will be held at the Thompson Regional Community Centre.
“This competition would not be the success it has been without the support of the City of Thompson and its fire department and the various fire chiefs from the different First Nations across Manitoba,” said Hart.
